BigWaylon
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This is not a step-by-step guide on how to build an AR-15. But there have been several people recently asking about building their own, and lots of suggestions on how to to do it. So this afternoon I had my 12yo son attempt to assemble one with my guidance. Spoiler alert: what he didn’t know, was that he was building his own first AR-15. I snapped a couple pics along the way. I’ll include a brief description of what goes on in each step as well as what tools are needed.
Here’s a pile of what we started with. It’s a PSA 16” 5.56 NATO 1:7 Midlength Nitride 13.5” Lightweight M-Lok MOE EPT Rifle Kit w/ MBUS Sight Set. Also bought a blem PA Microdot and absolute cowitness mount, plus a M-Lok compatible handstop. The last piece was the M4 Clone lower from PSA.
To save you from searching:
PSA = Palmetto State Armory
MOE = Magpul Original Equipment
EPT = Enhanced Polished Trigger
MBUS = Magpul Back-Up Sight
PA = Primary Arms
The only things I did prior to today:
1. Swapped the muzzle device to a YHM QD flash hider
2. Tapped the takedown spring hole for a 4-40 screw
3. Taped up the lower a little to protect it during roll pin installation and to cover up some custom engraving I didn’t want him to see until it was done
Now, I’ve done this a dozen or so times. I’ve yet to build an upper, but I’ve never bought an assembled lower or a complete AR (the 15-22 doesn’t count). The first AR I ever held was an SBR that I built the lower and bought the upper.
I’ve found Brownell’s site to be very helpful when assembling a lower. You can start here:
https://www.brownells.com/aspx/learn/learndetail.aspx?lid=11011
There are separate sections for each little step. There’s a short video you can watch, and also a PDF you can print out. I still use the printed copies each time. I’ll admit this discussion will have a slight “editing flaw”. I saw Trigger on the top of the page and went straight to the Trigger Guard step. It was supposed to be Trigger Group. So I’ll walk through it in the order they do, and the issue will just be that the pics will be a little off (you’ll see the trigger guard in the pic of the trigger group, when it shouldn’t be installed at that point).
Once you have all the PDFs printed out, read through them.
The next thing I’ve found very helpful is a picture of all the small pieces of a LBK (Lower Build Kit). I set it on the table, open all the little baggies, and match the parts up to make sure I’m not missing anything before I start. Most kits are the same, but some will includes extras. For example, the two PSA kits I’ve done this month both has one extra spring and one extra detent. When everything is in place, it’ll look like this:
Here’s a pile of what we started with. It’s a PSA 16” 5.56 NATO 1:7 Midlength Nitride 13.5” Lightweight M-Lok MOE EPT Rifle Kit w/ MBUS Sight Set. Also bought a blem PA Microdot and absolute cowitness mount, plus a M-Lok compatible handstop. The last piece was the M4 Clone lower from PSA.
To save you from searching:
PSA = Palmetto State Armory
MOE = Magpul Original Equipment
EPT = Enhanced Polished Trigger
MBUS = Magpul Back-Up Sight
PA = Primary Arms
The only things I did prior to today:
1. Swapped the muzzle device to a YHM QD flash hider
2. Tapped the takedown spring hole for a 4-40 screw
3. Taped up the lower a little to protect it during roll pin installation and to cover up some custom engraving I didn’t want him to see until it was done
Now, I’ve done this a dozen or so times. I’ve yet to build an upper, but I’ve never bought an assembled lower or a complete AR (the 15-22 doesn’t count). The first AR I ever held was an SBR that I built the lower and bought the upper.
I’ve found Brownell’s site to be very helpful when assembling a lower. You can start here:
https://www.brownells.com/aspx/learn/learndetail.aspx?lid=11011
There are separate sections for each little step. There’s a short video you can watch, and also a PDF you can print out. I still use the printed copies each time. I’ll admit this discussion will have a slight “editing flaw”. I saw Trigger on the top of the page and went straight to the Trigger Guard step. It was supposed to be Trigger Group. So I’ll walk through it in the order they do, and the issue will just be that the pics will be a little off (you’ll see the trigger guard in the pic of the trigger group, when it shouldn’t be installed at that point).
Once you have all the PDFs printed out, read through them.
The next thing I’ve found very helpful is a picture of all the small pieces of a LBK (Lower Build Kit). I set it on the table, open all the little baggies, and match the parts up to make sure I’m not missing anything before I start. Most kits are the same, but some will includes extras. For example, the two PSA kits I’ve done this month both has one extra spring and one extra detent. When everything is in place, it’ll look like this:
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